INTERVIEW: The buzz is definitely still there

We spoke to midfielder Jamie Devitt ahead of training on Wednesday to get his thoughts on the Mansfield defeat and to take a look ahead to the Emirates FA Cup third round game at Brunton Park on Saturday.

“The Mansfield game was frustrating for us all,” he admitted. “The dressing room was very down after the game, but we haven’t got time to stay down because we’ve got another big game on Saturday.

"We'll look back on the game and see where we could have done better, but our attention has to be on Saturday now. The Coventry game was similar in that the first team to score was probably going to go on and win the game. It wasn’t a great spectacle, it was just one of those games.

"On Monday, we started the game quite well and kept the ball. We created a couple of little half chances ,then we made a mistake which put them one goal up. All of a sudden it was 2-0, and you’re fighting a bit of a losing battle when you give teams a two goal lead.

“I thought we came out in the second half and showed good character. It should have been brought back to 2-2, but sometimes things like that happen. We ended up 3-1 down when we shouldn’t have been looking at a scoreline like that."

“It feels even more frustrating because we'd been on a run of winning three games, and then we went on and lost two in the way we did," he continued. "We thought we’d turned it around and found a bit of consistency.

"We seemed to have found a formula to win games so the last two have been a bit of a setback. We’re a good group of lads, we’ll pick ourselves up and we’re already looking forward to Saturday.

“There were some things said in the dressing room after the game on Monday, which will obviously stay in there, but we’re all men who can take criticism. We’ve come back inot work and everything has been forgotten about. We’re all friends, but sometimes people need a little kick up the backside. Like I say, we’re just looking forward to Saturday’s game now."

On the run of games which have seen him get back into the starting line up, he told us: “It’s been good to be back in the team. It was frustrating to be out of the team for a long time but when I got my chance against Gillingham I felt I took it.

"I’m enjoying the run I’m having at the moment but I know there are no guarantees for a place on Saturday, so I’ll keep working hard in training this week and hopefully be selected again.

“The gaffer has given myself and Reggie [Lambe] a bit of licence to be flexible because we know we’ve got Mike Jones behind us who is the one who sits a bit more. That means me and Reggie can get forward and rotate, so it’s a good position to be playing in.

“It’s been nice to get a couple of goals but I’m still eating myself up about the second chance I had against Accrington. I’m getting into those areas a lot more than I have been, so I’m enjoying it."

Speaking about his goal at the One Call Stadium, he said: “I was always going to take the penalty. I think Reggie wanted it, but he’d forgotten I’d taken one the last time Danny [Grainger] wasn’t playing. The good thing was he gave me the ball straight away.

"I’m always confident when I step up to take penalties. I’ll back myself in any situation to be honest, I’m a confident lad that way, and I always want the ball."

With United looking for a run of results to really lift the spirits heading into the New Year, he said: “I think every team will think they’re capable of being better, and we’re no different.

"It’s about going out and doing it and being consistent. We know we need to be more consistent and if we can get a good performance on Saturday that might be a little kick start.

"There have been teams a lot lower than us in the last few years who have gone on and ended up in the play-offs, and even got promoted. That is still our aim and we know we aren’t far away.

"We won’t give up on that aim. If we do there’s no point in coming into training or playing matches. With the group of lads we have here, that isn’t in our mentality.

“As League Two players you always want to test yourself against players from higher divisions and this weekend will be no different. We know we’ve knocked out two League One teams already so we won’t fear anything going into Saturday’s game.

"I’m really looking forward to the game, and hopefully I’m selected. The buzz is definitely still there for FA Cup games and you always want to get as far as you can. If we can get a result, who knows where we could be in the next round.

“It would be nice to do that in front of our own supporters because we haven’t given them a lot to cheer about at Brunton Park this season. It will be special if we can do it in front of them on Saturday.”

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